A Southfield-based high-end battery company is planning to build a new Ypsilanti Township facility that will allow it to expand the solar energy component of its business.

V-Max USA specializes in high-tech batteries using AGM technology, not battery acid, that provides ten to 20 times the life of traditional batteries. The company's products are found in a wide variety of items including wheelchairs, jet skis, scooters, boats, cars, sump pumps and agricultural equipment.

But owner and founder Abraham Ghaleb says the 24-year-old company started designing solar panels and packages in 2005 and now needs more space for the research, design and shipping of full solar energy systems.

Preliminary site plans submitted to the Ypsilanti Township Planning Department call for a 30,000-square foot facility, and the project could be in front of the planning commission later this month, said township planning coordinator Joe Lawson.

The building is planned for an 18-acre vacant property at 1879 W. Michigan Ave. near the Ellsworth Road intersection.

The company, which has 25 employees nationwide and facilities in Reno, NV and Tennessee, would house around ten employees at the new location and close its Southfield facility.

Ghaleb, who lives in Pittsfield Township, says the improvements around Ypsilanti and Pittsfield townships, especially near the Ellsworth and Michigan intersection, are what attracted him to the area, along with accessibility to a UPS terminal and interstate 94.

"The township is growing nicely. There's a lot of activity there," he said. "It's getting a pretty good facelift, with the redevelopment of the streets, the plaza, the buildings - everything is looking better.

"There are a lot of advantages for us there."

Ghaleb explained the company will produce "advanced" solar packages complete with panels, cables, batteries and controllers to distribute to contractors who will install solar energy systems on customers' homes.

The systems would range in size and price from a $500 package capable of powering lights and a computer to one that would allow home to operate completely off the electric grid at a price well over $10,000.

"It's a growing market there's no doubt about it. It's good to get into," Ghaleb said. "It's very clean technology and a lot of people are getting more into solar energy."

Lawson said he hadn't reviewed the preliminary site plans and didn't have any comment on the project until he did.